Hybrid Air Vehicles Airlander 10

History of the Airlander 10 Hybrid

Today, gas-filled airships look like romantic vehicles from a bygone era. However, there are several modern players in the market trying to revive manned light commercial transport, one of which is the Airlander 10, an aircraft from Hybrid Air Vehicles (HAV) in the UK.

HAV was established in 2007 with the goal of developing a new generation of hybrid airships, and this work resulted in a scaled-down demonstrator "HAV-3". The HAV-3 product is a 50-foot radio-controlled model that made its maiden flight over RAF Cardington in September 2008.

This vehicle then formed the basis for the military-focused "HAV-304", which attempted to meet the requirements of the US Army's LEMV (Long Endurance Multi-Intelligence Vehicle) program. Three were initially planned and supported by US defense giant Northrop Grumman, although only one eventually materialized.

With the termination of the LEMV program in February 2013, the airship was returned to the UK and converted into a civilian market transport aircraft - Airlander 10.

The Airlander 10 was launched in Cardington in 2014 as a long-distance, low-emissions vehicle that can land and take off anywhere. Inside, the airship is filled with helium, and its basic shape is said to account for about half of its lift principle.

The end result is a product that combines the best attributes of a fixed-wing aircraft (speed), a helicopter (vertical take-off and landing) and an airship (noise, low pollution).

The airship has no internal structure, and composite materials are used in its construction to ensure it is strong while maintaining the weight-saving properties that are important to all types of aircraft. The envelope volume is 38,000 cubic meters, and the aircraft is 92 meters long, 43.5 meters wide and 26 meters high. It can cruise at 80 knots and loiter at about 20 knots while reaching an altitude of 16,000 feet. It can fly for up to five days. Aerodynamic tubular slides on the bottom of the aircraft facilitate landing and retract during flight to maintain aerodynamic efficiency.

The production version should have a two-seater cockpit with excellent all-round visibility.

Standard power comes from 4 x 4 liter V8 turbo diesels with direct injection, each producing 325 hp. One pair is located on the front side of the fuselage, and the remaining pair is attached to the rear end of the fuselage.

The engines are also capable of vectoring thrust, allowing the operator to move precisely from the cockpit.

In its current civilian market form, airships are being pushed into a variety of roles - VIP luxury passenger transport, low-cost cargo transportation, distribution of relief supplies to remote parts of the world, security surveillance operations, general aerial advertising and soon. This airship is designed for payloads up to 10 tons and may be underloaded (in production mass form).

The oversized version of the Airlander 10 is the "Airlander 50" with a cargo capacity of 50 tonnes.

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